Chemotherapy can kill cancer cells throughout the body. This treatment saves the lives of about 7 out of every 10 people with advanced testicular cancer. 

Your treatment team may recommend chemotherapy if the cancer is at an advanced stage or is likely to spread. Chemotherapy can also stop advanced seminomas and nonseminomas that have spread from coming back.

Two common chemotherapy treatments are: 

• EP. This is an initial (first round) treatment for advanced testicular cancer. It combines the drugs etoposide and cisplatin (Platinol®). Your treatment team may add bleomycin to EP to treat tumors at a higher risk of spreading. 
• TIP. This combines 3 drugs, paclitaxel (Taxol®), ifosfamide, and cisplatin. This treatstesticular cancer that’s come back after a first round of chemotherapy.  

Most of the chemotherapy treatments MSK uses were developed by MSK doctors and specialists.